There are many ways to say goodbye — more than there are languages to utter it, even. But saying goodbye is a fundamental part of most languages, one that new learners pick up quickly. Whether you're a roamer hoping to pick up slang for your next trip, or a dreamer filling your fantasies with sights and sounds, this tutorial should be of help. Read on to find out how to say "goodbye" in several different languages.

Say "goodbye" in Portuguese. Portuguese is the official language of Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe among others. It has an estimated 250 million speakers worldwide, with 182 million speakers in Brazil alone.[1]

"Adeus"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: Ah-deh-ooSH

"Adeus

Meaning: May you go with God blessing.

"Tchau" is an informal way to say Goodbye and reserved to very close friends, it's considered Slang

Meaning: "Bye" or "Ciao"

Pronunciation: CHOW

"Até Logo"

Meaning: "See you later"

Pronunciation: Ah-TaY-Loh-GOO

"Até amanhã"

Meaning: "Until tomorrow" yo man

Pronunciation: ah-TAY-ah-ma-NYANG

3

Say "goodbye" in French. French is the official language in 29 countries. People speak it in regions in Canada, across much of central Europe, and even in Africa. It is estimated that there are 113 million native French speakers in the world, and approximately 170 million who either speak it as a second language or are currently learning to speak it.

"Adieu"

Meaning: "Farewell"

Pronunciation: ah-DYØH

"Au Revoir"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: oh-VWAHR

"À bientôt"

Meaning: "See you soon

Pronunciation: ah-bee-EN-toe

"À demain"

Meaning: "See you tomorrow"

Pronunciation: ah-DE-mah

4

Say "goodbye" in Italian. Italian is closely descended from Latin. It is spoken in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, and the Vatican City, as well as across the world by minorities. Many people who speak Italian are bilingual, meaning they speak other languages in addition to Italian. There are approximately 85 million Italian speakers worldwide.[2]

"Arrivederci"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: ahr-REE-va-DER-chee

"Addio"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: ahd-DEEH-oh

"Ciao"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: CHOW

"Buona sera"

Meaning: "Good evening"

Pronunciation: BWOH-nah-SEH-rah

"Buona Notte"

Meaning "Good Night"

Pronunciation BWOH-nah-NO-tay

5

Say "goodbye" in Romanian. The Romanian language is primarily spoken in Romania and Moldova, with approximately 24 million speakers worldwide.[3] Although it descended from Vulgar Latin, Romanian was influenced by Slavic and Greek languages in the Middle Ages.

"La revedere"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: LA-re-ve-DEH-re

"Rămas bun"

Meaning: "Farewell"

Pronunciation: RAH-mas-boon

"Pa"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: PA

Method2

Saying Goodbye in Germanic Languages

1

Say "goodbye" in German. German is the most widely spoken language in the European Union. In fact, modern English is descended from the West Germanic language. Today, more than 100 million native speakers of German exist, in countries ranging from Germany and Switzerland to Namibia.

"Auf Wiedersehen"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: owf-VEE-der-zayn

"Bis dann"

Meaning: "Until then"

Pronunciation: BISS-dun

"Bis bald"

Meaning: "Until soon"

Pronunciation: BISS-balt

"Bis später"

Meaning: "Until later"

Pronunciation: bis-SHPAY-ta

"Tschüss"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: CHÜSS

"Tschau"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: CHOW

"Ade"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: ah-DAY

2

Say "goodbye" in Dutch. Dutch is spoken as the native language in the Netherlands, and by majority populations in Belgium and Suriname. It is spoken as a first language by over 20 million people worldwide, and has a recognizable connection to both Afrikaans and English.[4]

"Tot ziens"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: tut-ZEENS

"Dag"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: DACH

"Doei"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: DOO-EY

3

Say "goodbye" in Swedish. A descendant of Old Norse, Swedish is spoken in Sweden and in parts of Finland. Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish are mutually intelligible, meaning that speakers of one can understand speakers of another, even if they don't understand the language. There are roughly 10 million native Swedish speakers worldwide.[5]

"Hejdå"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: HEY-doh

"Adjö" (adieu)

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: ah-YEU

"Adjöss"

Meaning: "So long"

Pronunciation: ah-YEUSS

"Vi ses"

Meaning: "See you"

Pronunciation: vee-SAISS

"Ha det så bra"

Meaning: "Take care"

Pronunciation: HA-de-se-BRA

4

Say "goodbye" in Danish. Danish is spoken in the homeland of Denmark, as well as in parts of northern Germany and in parts of Greenland. Danish is spoken by roughly six million people.[6]

"Farvel"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: fa-VEL

"Vi ses"

Meaning: "See you"

Pronunciation: VEE-saiss

"Hej hej"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: hey-hey

5

Say "goodbye" in Norwegian. Native language to nearly five million people, Norwegian is spoken mainly in Norway, although it is understood by Swedes and Danes. Written Norwegian is broken up into two forms — "Bokmål" (meaning "book tongue") and "Nynorsk" (literally "new Norwegian").

"Farvel"

Meaning: "Farewell"

Pronunciation: FAR-vel

"Ha det bra"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: Ha-de-BRA

"Hade"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: HA-day

"vi snakkes"

Meaning: "Talk to you later"

Pronunciation: VEE-snuck-es

6

Say "goodbye" in Afrikaans. The official language of South Africa, Afrikaans developed as Dutch and indigenous African settlers mixed languages beginning in the 17th century. Today, an estimated 15 to 23 million people call Afrikaans their mother tongue.[7]

Method3

Saying Goodbye in Slavic Languages

1

Say "goodbye" in Russian. The Russian language, the official language of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and others, is the 8th most widely spoken language in the world.[8] Although it can be rendered in the Latin alphabet, it is commonly written in Cyrillic.

"Do svidaniya" / "До Свидания"

Meaning: "Goodbye" (lit.: "Until the next time we meet")

Pronunciation: Do-sve-DAN-ya

"Poka" / "Пока"

Meaning: "Bye"

Pronunciation: pa-KA

"Do vstrechi" / "До Встречи"

Meaning: "Until we meet again"

Pronunciation: DO-vtr-ETCHY

"Udachi" / "Удачи"

Meaning: "Good luck"

Pronunciation: oo-DA-chee

2

Say "goodbye" in Polish. Polish is the second most widely-spoken Slavic language, behind Russian. There are an estimated 40+ million Polish speakers around the world.[9] Polish is written according to the Polish alphabet.

"Do zobaczenia"

Meaning: "See you"

Pronunciation: doh-zoh-bah-CHAN-ya

"Żegnaj"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: dzen-NAI (the "dz" sound is the same sound as the "si" in "vision")

3

Say "goodbye" in Croatian. Croatian, also called hrvatski jezik, is spoken in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina. There are roughly 5 to 7 million Croatian speakers woldwide.

Meaning: "God" (literally means "God", but can be pronounced “bok,” so it is differentiated from the word "God")

Pronunciation: BOK

"Ćao"

Meaning: "Ciao" (primarily used in Coastal Croatia, because of it location very close to Italy, where you would say "Ciao" and the pronunciation of Ciao and Ćao are similar, if not the same)

Pronunciation: CHOW

"Idi s Bogom"

Meaning: "Go with God"

Pronunciation: ee-Dee's Boh-gom

4

Say "goodbye" in Czech. Commonly known as Bohemian before the 20th century, Czech is spoken by over 10 million native speakers.[10] In Czech, as in some other Slavik languages, there are many words that don't contain a vowel.

"Sbohem"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: "sbo-HEM"

"Na shledanou"

Meaning: "Goodbye"

Pronunciation: "nah-SKLE-dan-oh"

"Ahoj"

Meaning: "See you"

Pronunciation: "a-HOY"

5

Say "goodbye" in Slovene. Spoken by roughly 2.5 million people as a mother tongue, Slovene is the language of the people of Slovenia.

Community Q&A

It depends. In general, one would use "sayonara". However, this is used for people whom you may not see for awhile, or it can be used with teachers. If you want to say goodbye to a friend whom you'll probably see within the next day or two, you can say "jaa mata", "matane", or "jaane."

To say "Goodbye" in several different languages, say "Adios" for Spanish, "Adeus" for Portuguese, "Au revoir" for French, or "Arrivederci" for Italian. If you want to say "Goodbye" in one of the Germanic languages, say "Auf Wiedersehen" for German, "Tot ziens" for Dutch, or "Farvel" for Danish. Or, to say "Goodbye" in an Asian language, try "Sayōnara" for Japanese, "Zài jiàn" for Mandarin, or "Annyeong" for Korean. To learn how to say "Goodbye" in Indo-Aryan, Semitic, and Slavic languages, scroll down!

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This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Together, they cited information from 10 references.